Anyone who has participated in a game beta will know what to expect: random crashes, unpolished textures and a game engine with the stability of a two legged donkey on a surf board. Well, we’ve been getting to grips with the Heroes & Generals pre-beta, so the beta test for the beta test. Therefore it really would be a case of kicking the blind, deaf and mute child in the school playground if we were to look too deeply into the technical issues we have found so far. This is a game in its early development stages and has the teething issues of a baby growing shark teeth. Fortunately, it has a lot of other things that we are happy to be nice about.

Heroes & Generals is a browser based massively multiplayer real-time strategy first-person shooter hybrid game (think the abbreviation BBMMRTSFPS will catch on?) set in World War II that has two distinct phases which separate the genres. After logging in and choosing to fight for either the Axis or the Allies you land on the campaign map, an entangled spider’s web of supply lines between towns all over Europe. This is the ‘generals’ aspect of the game that allows you to oversee your team’s forces from an RTS perspective. Eventually you can earn money to deploy your own squads to move around the board, but before then you must enter a skirmish in one of the many contested towns.

This is where attack orders are issued and player characters sent to war.

This is where the ‘heroes’ part of the game lies, putting you behind the eyes of a grunt on the ground. It feels very similar to the older Battlefield games where you get to choose a spawn point, drop in the game and then race to beacons on the map that can be captured and spawned on. Both teams take these points in order, fighting towards a central victory point to either capture or defend. When this location is successfully taken or held, the victorious team takes ownership of the town on the map. It sounds very simple, but the genius part lies with the generals in the RTS game running in the background.

You can only use the equipment that generals have moved into that particular town on the campaign map. This means you can only use tanks if someone has purchased them and moved them into position. Destroyed tanks may respawn, but only if you have replacement tanks in reserve placed by a benevolent general who might not even be fighting alongside you. Even the number of riflemen you can spawn is limited to the infantry moved there along the supply lanes on the big map. Of course you could always try to optimistically ride one of the numerous abandoned bicycles found on some maps into battle.

All war efforts are appreciated but please bring more than your bicycle.

More complex strategies start to open up when you realise that lots of towns have several supply routes going into them. Move your forces on the campaign map into a town via multiple supply routes and you suddenly open up more spawn locations for the men on the ground. Do you join the battle as a rifleman as part of a small squad north of the bridge, or appear as tank support with the armoured division from the west? As you play you realise the massive difference your actions on the campaign map can make in winning the war.

Money earned on the ground can be used to purchase new weapons for your soldier or improve the equipment he already has. Weapon customisation goes deeper than Call of Duty could ever hope to, with different springs, triggers and barrels joining the usual pimping options of sights and ammunition types. Even these have different levels of effectiveness that can be purchased. It means that loadouts are diverse and guns can be modified for very specialised uses. Cash can also be spent on the campaign map, buying assets for the war such as infantry squads, tanks and planes.

There are only a few things that can crack tanks. Hint: It's not the bicycle.

It’s a fantastic concept that brilliantly mixes the strengths of the RTS and FPS genres. Even though the battles are won on the ground, the only way to set those battles up is on the campaign map. If you want to jump into a quick battle, there needs to be a frontline organised by a general. You can easily remedy this yourself, although possibly not for a little while as purchasing assault squads starts off a little pricey. The money is quickly earned after a few matches though. Mixing the tactical choices of a general with the decisive efforts of a soldier on the ground works together like the gaming equivalent of cheese on toast – it just tastes like it was meant to be.

Being a pre-beta there are still loads of issues that need to be addressed, first and foremost a team balancing mechanic. Most of the wars we have fought so far have had a heavy player imbalance in favour of the Axis. Allied forces were constantly pushed back and we found ourselves fighting in England a lot, participating in epic clashes such as the battle for Bury St Edmunds and the defence of Maidstone. There’s the usual seesaw of weapon balancing, but that will be an on-going issue until the game is released, as it is with most online FPS games. The browser game UI also needs some work done to it, as aspects of the current layout are about as user friendly as a kicked beehive.

We really cannot wait to see what Heroes & Generals is going to be like when peak online players reach the consistent upper hundreds. This could be the next step for FPS games that want to strive beyond point and click shooting galleries. Whilst it looks very friendly towards the drop-in and out crowed, even the actions of casual players can cause ripples that reach the deep end. It’s definitely one to watch and something that developer Reto-Moto can only make better with each layer of polish. Having said that, it’s clear there is still a lot of polishing to do.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about Naughty Dog’s new PS3 exclusive title The Last of Us, so it comes as a pleasant surprise to find a new trailer for it online today.

The trailer features protagonists Ellie and Joel coming across a blocked highway which forces them to turn off the road. This funnels them into an eventful encounter with some of the more charming locals of post-apocalyptic Pittsburgh, where the game is set.

The Last of Us focuses on gruff man Joel and 17-year-old Ellie as they attempt to get through a chaotic city overrun with nastiness. The current ETA for this survival horror action romp is early 2013, but that could mean anything at this stage.

You can check out last year’s exciting reveal trailer for the game here.

Critical Talk has returned with a grand flourish, kind of like Gandalf the White but with less ageless mystery. The format’s been changed up and everything’s ready to go, so allow Matt, Luke, Stephen, Kevin, and Anthony to lead you on a quest of discovery and videogames!

• Laugh with or laugh at the lovable stereotypes of Binary Domain!
• Stock up on bargain bin items for the oncoming used game apocalypse!
• Download first-party Nintendo games when the apocalypse arrives!

Critical Talk Episode 8 might rock your world, so we heartily recommend clicking here to listen.

Music courtesy of Steven G. He is a separate person than Stephen K, the guy who hosts and edits.

Will we be so happy with the dawn of the 'next generation'?

If you stop and think about the videogames market and how it works, it becomes clear that it has not changed too much in terms of its business model. A company creates the hardware and then it releases its own games for the system, which consumers buy. In addition third party firms create games for the system and they have to pay a license to be able to put their game on a format which will play in the console. Consumers then pay for the consoles and the games. A ‘pay as you play at each step of the way’ model.

In recent times this has been coupled with DLC, where you can add more content to your primary purchase through additional purchases. The casual game and MMO sector have both impacted upon the traditional game model, by offering either very cheap games (the store owner acting as the publisher in effect), free to play (but with built in microtransactions – essentially a DLC-only model with no initial purchase), or a subscription based model with no microtransactions. Some MMOs have even tried to offer a mixture, for example DCUO on PC and PS3 offers a range of ways to access content. 2011 even saw Call of Duty attempt to move out of the ‘pay as you go along’ model and offer a subscription based service, called Elite.

Whilst current consoles have been largely 'pay as you play' platforms, Xbox did introduce a yearly fee to access network functionality, whilst Sony created PSN Plus to introduce a content and added value service proposition.

However despite these changes grabbing most of the headlines and being the focus of many podcasts across the gaming media, in the last week or so it has become very clear that the elephant which is about the enter the room is that of subsidised hardware via ongoing contracts with consumers.

Anyone who looks across to the tablet and iPhone market has seen how by leveraging the value in the networks, Apple have been able to make expensive and hard to purchase pieces of technology available to the masses. The hardware is cheap or free, the consumer pays a monthly fee on a contract for 24 months (which includes the network service charges) and then apps are the DLC, which are either free or in a ‘low value and charge as little as possible’ pricing trend. Whilst Apple takes 30% across the board of all app purchases, they were in profit the moment you took the phone or tablet and app revenue is simply icing on the cake for them.

Now it’s been simpler for Apple to take this approach with the networks and their customers, as the purchasing habit of dealing with subsidised hardware with long term contracts existed long before the introduction of the iPhone. Most phones worth owning have a face value of £350-£600 and so it’s been through the use of long term contracts that networks have offered access to the latest model in exchange for a long term commitment to their services. Ironically when older and cheaper phones are on offer networks need to package in additional offers to make the value proposition of a long term commitment still ‘worth it’ in the eyes of the consumer, over a ‘pay as you go’ deal. Hence networks and shops have offered game consoles as part of the deal. The subsidy is buried within the monthly fee and everyone is a winner. Additionally, the networks often used their size to leverage a huge deal with the hardware manufacturers to boost the value proposition of the model to the network’s advantage.

Pay £100, sign a 24 month contract for £30 a month and bingo you've been ripped off! But it's worth it, right?

Due to the ‘must have factor’ of the iPhone and iPad, networks have not had the same type of success when it comes to negotiating a deal on the price of the phone and in addition, they have had to share part of the monthly fee with Apple. Either way, it has allowed networks to get customers to commit to 18-24 month contracts which gives them longer term stability, and has allowed many customers who would never have been able to purchase an iPad or iPhone the ability to get one, and change it every two years.

In parallel to this, we have also seen the growth and success in the development of ‘all you can consume’ network and content services. Cable or satellite firms offer ‘value’ subscriptions which include, phone line rental, broadband, premium TV and in some cases mobile services. This ‘all you can consume for a price’ model is seen as transparent (even though it is not), where the consumer knows exactly what they have to pay and in return get all the benefits.

As the new consoles start to approach, each with their list price of £450-£600, it’s clear that they just will not sell. Not at those prices, in this market and with the competition including everything from the current generation of consoles, to tablets and phones and online services such as OnLive being embedded into smart TVs. Additionally, the old model of selling the console at a loss whilst making the profit on the game purchases is looking shaky at best. We have already established, in previous articles, that we are buying fewer AAA games. So the number of licences the console manufacturer is going to receive will diminish (you can see this with Nintendo software sale data of their 3DS platform where the range of software is much lower than that of the DS generation). Whilst downloadable game purchases are rising, the income derived from those are nowhere near the level where they can start to replace the income that was previously derived from the myriad of boxed titles, which used to be released weekly on the PlayStation or Xbox platforms in years gone by.

Seriously, it would be cheaper to get a bottom of the range phone on the most basic contract, with a Xbox thrown in than do the Microsoft $99 deal. And this way you might actually get one with a hard drive....

The result of this? Microsoft has released a cheap $99 Xbox and Kinect package subsidised with a $15 a month contract. In other news Sony is looking to add tiers to its PS Plus membership. Some tiers might cost as much as $20 a month but offer guaranteed delivery of top AAA titles at the time of launch and built-in access to services such as COD’s Elite and others. It would not take a genius to suggest that Sony might even try to tie such contracts into the launch of a future console, allowing those who cannot afford them to have a way of paying over time, whilst also gaining other added value services.

However, might the console firms do an Apple, and start ‘selling’ the consoles via the cable, satellite and communication firms supplying our broadband? For sure there has been cooperation before, but never a truly subsidised model as currently is the case for top of the line smart phones. Is it so hard to see BT in the UK offering the latest PS4 for free or only £99 if you sign up to their top of the range network package which includes phone, broadband and TV for say £60 a month? Perhaps for £80 if it includes PS Plus too? In return you would have the hardware, and all the content you would ever want to get the most out of the hardware.

So how does this reshape the market? Well publishers would make less, as the hardware manufacturers would in effect promise them a cut of the subscription to include their game or service in the offering. The amount on offer would be guaranteed, but be less per unit than if we had all bought boxed copies. Everyone might end up self publishing or publishing via the console manufacturer. Have you seen the beta for the PlayStation Suite? It’s essentially offering full-blown access and the ability to develop for PSVita and compatible platforms without an all expensive SDK – in other words, Sony is considering moving to the Apple iOS model for the majority of its content with games such as COD, Uncharted and God of War still providing a premium channel.

Cloud based gaming has firmly recast gaming as a service, more than just a hardware owning experience.

In addition it might mean the end of multiple console owning gaming fans. At least initially, as unless you are willing to pay a high non subsidised price for your ‘second’ console you will have to wait until the technology is no longer new and hence affordable on the old ‘pay as you go model’. Of course, if this model is successful it could mean life cycles of consoles shrinking from 6-10 years to 2-4. After all the subsidised model has allowed Apple, Samsung and their competitors to bring out new models yearly. Ironically this pace of change, with new handsets which are more than evolutionary updates, has actually hurt most of the industry. Only Samsung and Apple are really making any money in this space with other firms hurting (Nokia) or treading water (HTC).

Nintendo is normally a 'generation' behind. Perhaps in this case it will be a business model behind, picking up customers who are not yet prepared to make the jump to monthly contracts?

Where would this leave Nintendo? There is nothing stopping Nintendo from joining this new model. However there is an opportunity for them, if Microsoft and Sony adopt this way forward. Indeed Microsoft and Sony might have no choice but to adopt this type of model, as otherwise their expensive solutions will not sell in numbers adequate to reach a critical mass in an acceptable time frame to generate the revenue required to justify the business rationale of developing new consoles. Nintendo, as we know, is going to produce some (hopefully) well integrated and very able technology, but which is not cutting edge. The price to consumers will be anywhere between $200-$300 by all accounts, and within a year would be the lower end of this. Nintendo can make their console the console for those who just cannot afford ongoing subsidies (many people cannot and will not ever be able to afford to be ‘on contract’ however much ‘value’ the contract offers) and the ‘second’ console for those who are tied into a contract. Call it the Amazon Kindle of gaming if you will. The Kindle is the only real tablet to be a success as it’s cheap, tied into a content platform and so has become the tablet for those who are not able to jump onto the Apple bandwagon, or an iPad user’s second tablet for the home.

Microsoft it seems might be planning for this, and so might keep the Xbox 360 available in the shops at a hugely discounted price to try to stop this becoming a successful strategy. However it will be a struggle for them to do this effectively as however good the 360 will be in comparison to the Wii U, the average consumer will consider the Wii U as ‘new’, and the repackaged 360 as old. In addition continuing to sell the 360 could take away purchasers from any new console they release. So it will be a balancing act for them, and new to their business model. Microsoft pulled the original Xbox the moment the 360 came onto the market, and unlike Sony (who still today sell the PS2) have never had a two console marketing plan.

if there was one machine that would have benefited from a low up front cost, but monthly fee which included network bandwidth and PSN Plus content it was the Vita...

Would you be willing to pay a monthly contract to get the latest hardware if it also included either all the content or certainly a large amount (of credible content)? As we move to simultaneous downloadable titles (even Nintendo is going to do this) and possibly streaming games (perhaps starting with less graphically challenging titles – today’s XBLA titles for example) is this shift inevitable?

In two years time will you buying your new console from Sky as part of your new contract?

I think it’s time to start this discussion within the industry, but also with the consumers.

Sixteen years is a long time.1994 to 2010; that’s the kind of break we’re talking about with the original Sonic the Hedgehog series. In the realm of videogames, that’s long enough to go from Doom to Black Ops. The first three games (and echidna-powered expansion pack) were a distant memory at this point, but some held on to a simple truth: To be this good it takes AGES; to be this good it takes SEGA. Their good faith was finally returned with Sonic the Hedgehog 4, a series of episodic downloadable games backed by delays and a future of vague hand-waving. Good news for sure, but muddled. Is this a single, complete product or a mini-saga of separate games? Why choose such an unconventional method of distribution? Is it even worth chasing memories of peeling cartridge labels covered in dust? The question must be asked:

“What on Mobius is up with Sonic 4?”

When “Project Needlemouse” (an allusion to Sonic’s original prototype name) was teased back in 2009, hope rose like a mighty tide in the hearts of many. Remember that these hearts had recently been ravaged by the choppy waves of Sonic Unleashed, and although suspicion of anything Sonic-tainted was thick, the promise of a return to 2D roots won out. When the curtain was pulled back to reveal Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I, the air was filled with tossed hats and cheers of elation and a few scattered harrumphs from sceptical old-timers who wouldn’t be fooled this time. The handheld Sonic platformers were excellent products in their own right, make no mistake, but a direct follow-up to the Genesis games was nothing less than Sega proclaiming a new era of hedgehogian glory days. In fact, digital brand manager Ken Balough said as much in an interview with GameSpot once the teaser trailer went live:

“Project Needlemouse is that critical first step that brings Sonic back to his roots.”

The key phrase here is “first step.”

They're not messing around. This is Sonic 4, folks.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I bounded onto downloadable services in October of 2010, arms open wide for a great big reunion hug, but it was hard not to hesitantly pat its shoulder and ponder why things couldn’t be like the old days. The game was definitely competent, but its sluggish physics and slavish desire to mimic the original recipe felt more like a well-meaning homage than a true sequel. Instead of launching a series into the modern era (as did Rayman Origins) or tugging every nostalgic heartstring in sight with expert precision (like Mega Man 9), it took the New Super Mario Bros. route of acceptable genericness. The music, the world design, the visuals… every element felt held back and unimaginative. “Critical first step” indeed, Mr. Balough, but in which direction?

And then– dead silence. For over a year, Sega hardly breathed a word about the next episode. So much for monthly instalments. So much for yearly instalments, even. Meanwhile, Sonic was on retail shelves hoverboarding, touring interstellar amusement parks, travelling through time-warping dimensions, and competing against plumbers in the London Olympics; still nothing but low murmurs concerning the incomplete project. It took a teaser trailer in December of 2011 for Ken Balough to stride into the limelight once more, ready and willing to chat with GameSpot about Episode II. His facial hair exuded command, elaborately styled and dyed to resemble the twin tails from Sonic’s little buddy, but his message was humble.

“We listened tremendously during Episode I,” he assured viewers, addressing highly specific problems with its physics and going on to reference previous first step effort. “We’ve definitely come a long way in step two.”

According to these promises, not only will Sonic stop sticking to walls and uncurling from his spindash at the worst of times, but the game boasts a brand new engine, reworked physics and all. As Balough’s facial hair heavily implied, Tails will be tagging along this time, not to mention guest star Metal Sonic. In fact, a tribute to the ancient art of lock-on technology will let you play as the mechanical doppelgänger in Episode I free of charge. All of these developments are reasons to get pumped, but what precisely is the difference between this and a full-on sequel? Telltale’s adventure games make sense in the context of an episodic story, but why a simple platformer? The question still hovers like a mosquito that is bafflingly intrigued by the minutia of video game development:

“What on Mobius is up with Sonic 4?”

Throw in a chili cheese dog or two and I'd be reliving my childhood right about now.

In a sense, these games are built to fail. Episode I played it very, very safe, including only the bare necessities of a successful Sonic game. When it fell short of lofty expectations, Sega listened with strained ears, trying to pinpoint the holes in their hull. When you live through a Titanic such as Sonic 2006, you learn to carry lifeboats– and that’s exactly what the episodic format is. By crafting one standalone game at a time, it essentially gives Sega the chance to bail out whenever the yen stops pouring in, rather than going down with the ship. As Cheat Code Central gathered from reps at this year’s PAX, the episodes will continue to sail the open market unless something springs a leak and takes on too much water. These nautical metaphors are getting too deep, however, so let’s move on before the dreadful drowning timer kicks in.

All that said, what can we expect from Sonic 4 in the future? With Episode I in the bag, the developers seem to be stretching their creativity muscles a bit more with May 15th’s second instalment. Integrating Tails while avoiding playable extras like the plague is the best of best worlds, and they’ve taken great strides towards a prettier, more dynamic game that might even exhibit a personality. Listening to fan feedback (read: angry demands) is more than appreciated, but creativity comes from within, so here’s hoping that Sega doesn’t settle with merely fixing the problems of a so-so game. Since these first two entries are bent on mirroring Sonic 1 and 2, respectively, it wouldn’t be a stretch of logic to expect Mr. Balough to flaunt crimson dreadlocks next year. Building a mini-saga of downloadable copycat games under a single title is undoubtedly weird, but hey, if that’s what it takes to get more classic Sonic, they could burn them to a Laserdisc and I’d be happy.

Recapturing those madcap memories is not impossible– Sonic Advance and Sonic Generations both came close– and Sega is clearly intent on doing just that. While their retail titles continue to define what it means to dash through the third dimension, the downloadable space is a perfect home for this most noble Genesis quest. Nearly everything they’ve been saying and showing have pointed towards this being a reality, so as the dawn of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II’s release approaches, a critical step in the adventure is at hand.

A critical step indeed, but in what direction?

• Format: PlayStation Vita (version reviewed), PS3
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Reef Entertainment
  
• Developer: Nippon Ichi Software, Inc
• Players: 1
• Site: http://disgaea.us/dis3vita/

The PlayStation Vita has been starved of games since its launch in March, which is one of the main reasons for its slow start at retail. Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention is a much needed new title for Vita gamers looking for something to play on their shiny new console. Disgaea 3 originally appeared on the PlayStation 3 in 2008, and has been succeeded on the console by Disgaea 4. So is the strategy role-player worth forking out for again on Sony’s new handheld?

The graphics are functional, rather than outstanding.

The plot of Disgaea 3 involves Mao, the top student at Netherworld’s Evil Academy, whose dad (the Overlord of the Netherworld) accidentally stands on his SlayStation Portable; losing millions of hours worth of game saves (we’ve all been there). Mao decides that he needs to take down his father and become a hero. This will be difficult seeing as he has an evil quotient of 1.8 million (in this school the good guys are the delinquents, and the bad kids are the prefects.) It’s all pretty bonkers stuff as you can imagine, and the script writing is very funny throughout, with small penguin like characters calling you ‘dood’ and an equally impressive and memorable cast of teachers and fellow students.

The gameplay involves tactical turn-based combat, played out in an isometric viewpoint. The characters and objects in the world are simple sprites and you can rotate the viewpoint at any time to see where your characters are positioned, although it can still be quite difficult to see what is going on. If there are too many characters in the same area, the camera angle makes planning your attacks difficult at times. The graphics are more functional than outstanding, although the anime style cut scenes between battles are quite impressive. When it comes to your turn the game gives you a grid to show you where your heroes are able to move. Once you have finalised the movement and attacks of your characters, you end your turn and see what damage you have done to the enemy monsters. It is then their turn to inflict pain onto your roster of characters.

There are a vast amount of spells and attacks that you can unleash on your enemies, and a huge list of Evility upgrades that can be learned by spending your experience points. As you upgrade your squad you gain more gloriously over the top super moves which can involve multiple characters joining forces to kick your foe up into a hilarious maelstrom of pain. Along with the grid based combat there is also the addition of Geo Blocks, which are differently coloured blocks that can be used in combination with Geo Panels, which alter the stats of whoever stands on them. The Geo Blocks can be stacked onto one another, or can even be destroyed, so you have to utilise them as best you can as your enemy can also use them to their advantage. Each item in the game contains a randomly generated world which you can dive into to gather extra experience points and to upgrade your items. This is a great way to grind your character through the levels. There is also a homeroom, which is a classroom that you can use to help boost team attacks by placing characters next to each other in the seats of the classroom to maximise effectiveness.

The homeroom is used to boost team attacks.

We have to say, having never played a Disgaea game before we were initially a bit lost with all the different areas of combat, and the menu system can be quite bewildering to first time players. There are so many menus to deal with which could quite easily put new players off. However the basics are pretty easy to pick up thanks to the opening tutorials which allow you to acclimatise before you gain the courage necessary to explore some of the game’s more obscure intricacies. With the game originally coming out on the PS3 in 2008, obviously the graphics are rather dated, and if you were looking to showcase the almost PS3 power of the Vita, then this isn’t a title that will turn heads. Nippon Ichi have added touch screen controls to this Vita remix, but they don’t really add anything significant to the game. Also we must say that the price is a bit steep at £35-£40 for what is essentially a four year old game, even though all the DLC from the PS3 version is included, and the game has additional story quests and bosses to fight.

The anime cutscenes are impressive on the Vita's screen.

If you manage to get to grips with the tactical nuances of the game, then there is a lot of fun to be had with Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention, and its cast of memorable characters. With a sparkling and funny script, and more depth than even James Cameron can handle, there is plenty here for fans of the genre – although if you have already completed the game on PS3 there is not a lot of incentive here to replay it on the Vita. It might be hard for casual or new players to get to grips with, but when they do, this game does enough to warrant dusting down their neglected portable for some truly crazy over the top strategy role-playing.

Okay, let’s take a look at which gaming machines allow you to browse the internet. PC & Mac (you don’t say!), Vita, PSP, PS3, DSi, 3DS, Wii… even the DS if you can track down the browser add-on. Hang your head in shame, Mr Xbox 360! But perhaps you’ll soon have the right to hold it back up again in this particular identity parade, thanks to the internet’s favourite friends; anonymous informants.

According to The Verge and its “sources”, a specially adapted version of Internet Explorer is currently being tested to run on the 360. This news should be taken with at least one pinch of salt, as it’s not even hinted at whereabouts these sources work. The information could come from somebody who overheard a conversation in McDonald’s for all we know. That said, it’s far from impossible that Microsoft have finally decided it might be a good idea to stop being the odd one out.

More circumstantial evidence to support the rumour comes in the form of unnecessary Kinect support shoehorned in – that’s very Microsoft. The Verge reports that optional Kinect controls, including both voice commands and hand waving controls, will be included. Whether or not this means certain activities performed by certain people while watching ‘special videos’ will interfere with browser functionality was not clarified.

Blockbuster have launched a new VIP Gamer scheme, which gives gamers points when they make purchases in store or online. With 100 points available per £1 spent, you can also claim points by entering competitions, rating games or simply watching game trailers on the Blockbuster website. Players can redeem their points against various in-store or online offers.

Better get saving to get that PS3!!

Current offers include a chocolate bar for 850 points, a can of Relentless for 1,500 points, a free game for 85,000 points, and if you want a free PS3, you will be expected to redeem the princely sum of 450,000 points! So you better start collecting! It’s a cheeky move by Blockbuster to capture some of GAME and GameStation’s customer base, and it will be interesting to see how the new regime at GAME will respond to this shot across their bow.

No longer content with sitting alone in a room and typing things about videogame music, I’ve invited one of the super cool people who actually compose said videogame music to join me in this third episode of No Tune Unturned. Matt “Chainsaw” Chaney, Supreme High Commander of Audiological Endeavours at Twisted Pixel Games, was kind enough to talk with me about character-based music, guitar lessons that led to falling ten feet onto concrete, and– inevitably– donuts. Educate yourself on Chainsaw history and have a listen; you’re guaranteed to have one or two rad songs stuck in your head by the end.

If you happen to know the perfect musical topic to cover or composer to interview, the “Leave a Reply” section below and our Twitter account (@Critical_Gamer) would both be superb places to let me know. And above all else, remember this:

Videogame music is great, so listen to it!

Music included:

Whistle While You Work – The Gunstringer

Donuts, Go Nuts – ‘Splosion Man

Wavy Tube Man Battle – The Gunstringer

We’ve Got a Bond – The Gunstringer

It’s Brad – Comic Jumper

Point of Impact – Chainsaw

All of these songs can be found on Twisted Pixel’s website, save for “Point of Impact” which is part of Chainsaw’s solo album.

• Format:PC/Mac
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Lace Mamba Global
  
• Developer: Pigsels
• Players: 1
• Site: http://colorop.us/

Coloropus is a physics based puzzle game aimed at children aged seven and over. Before we go into the game’s strengths and weaknesses though, let’s actually explore the gameplay and premise.

You play a little octopus who finds that his pink girlfriend octopus is snatched from him at every occasion. Call it a bout of ‘Princess Peachtitus’ and you’ll get the story down in a second. Hence you play through level after level trying to get to your girlfriend. You do this by changing colour and using combinations of colours to interact with and alter the environment around you. A basic example introduced near the start would be where you need to get past a blue coral obstacle. By eating a blue colour object you can then ‘fire’ blue ink at it to make it dissolve. Perhaps you need to get past an object made of a colour not available on the screen? Well, in that case you might need to eat two different colours to make the correct mixture, and so on.

This image is from the opening. It's lovely. We wouldn't call it 'cel shaded' but rather a 'hand coloured' effect'.

The game is presented utilising 2D graphics with a hand-drawn style. The game doesn’t scroll but instead you move from screen to screen by exiting via different paths. It feels like a basic flash game (some flash games nowadays feature full 3D graphics, but this is not one of them!) and plays like one.

As you progress through the game you will die. Quite a lot in fact as the difficulty curve for this title is not even paced and it doesn’t seem fair. Death, though, is not the end in Coloropus. Indeed, in this game death is just how to play the really cool bits. You will end up being taken to a one-screen mini puzzle, where you need to move your octopus’ soul (shown by a halo above your head) to your inactive, sleeping body. However, there will be obstacles and a colour coded puzzle to solve before you can simply waltz over and merge. These are some of the best puzzles in the game. In fact if Pigsels had just produced a game full of these puzzles, in a fashion similar to Angry Birds, without the plot or evil fish trying to eat you we would have been far happier and the score would have been significantly higher.

The game mechanic is a great idea, but the main plot is slow and clumsy. There is no text or spoken word. Instead we have some Star Fox style babbling with some line animation stepping in for dialogue. This is also how the game carries out its tutorial and hint system. Whilst very pretty to watch, it is very slow to execute and it results in the player being sucked out of the rhythm of the game.

Overall the main plot is an awkward mix of the core puzzle mechanic converged with some shoot em up and ‘avoid em up’ elements. Unfortunately these additional gameplay types do not suit the control scheme and movement physics. Your character is slow to move, and often the response is inconsistent. Some of the fish will attack you, and there are also other creatures who will try to grab you. The character movement just isn’t responsive enough to make these aspects of the game fun. They should be fun, but instead become a chore and a pain as more times than not an encounter like this will lead to your death.

These bubbles over character heads use a 'communication via pictionary' approach to tips and story exposition. They are slow and clumsy.

Whilst the core plot is no different from Mario, which is a title many of us older gamers play, the way it is executed in Coloropus will not attract many adult players. This is the paradox Coloropus wrestles with; it has an art style and setting ideal for 3-7 year olds, alongside a difficulty level and set of controls which will only those aged seven and above will be able to cope with.

The settings, being rather childlike in presentation, are pretty and the sound design and music are beautiful. It is a shame some of the music is not longer, or loops smoother as the sudden stop-start can break the atmosphere; but the overall tone is worthy of a mention. It certainly helps create the light, friendly and emotional backdrop the game requires to ‘sell’ the story.

Had Pigsels made the graphics and presentation darker, sped up the exposition of the narrative and released it on a touch device or turned it into a XBLA/3DS Estore title with resulting improvements in controls, this game could have provided a more consistent and balanced experience. As it is we have a great puzzle game, which all ages above seven can get some pleasure from if they can avoid becoming bogged down by the weight of the story – an element the game just doesn’t need.